Heat Pads for Brooders?

[materum]

Hey, so I was thinking of a way to keep the baby chicks more quiet in the night while they stay indoors in the brooder, and I was thought perhaps during the night I could try to keep them warm using heat pads under their bedding to heat them rather than just having a heat lamp. I figured a heat pad might provide the correct heat for the birds while allowing it to get dark (and therefore have the birds sleep more). I tried searchign for this online, but heat pads seem to be the thing for incubators. I was curious what you guys thought about this idea of using heat pads to heat chicks instead of heat lamps. If any of you guys have also thought about it and/or tried it, I'd be very happy to hear your input.

 

[shelleyd2008]

They'll sleep with the lights on, that's not a problem. I don't think heating pads is a good idea, they would have no place to get away from the heat if they get too hot. If you personally are worried about the light being on, you can always get a ceramic heat bulb, they don't emit any light.

 

[cmom]

I agree. Lights are not a problem with chicks. They will still eat, sleep and poop.

 

[joey7319]

We used a small reptile heating pad and a critter keeper(little plastic terrerium with a vented top). I got the heating pad small enough that it only covered half the terrerium. The reptile heating pads are made so you can stick them to the underside of the critter keeper. I don't know how they will do in the long run, as we just used them when we had a couple of chicks struggling to get out of eggs. Once we got them hatched, we let them dry off and gave them back to mama. It's a thought though, I feel it got the job done. Everyone is happy and healthy. Hope this helps.

Nikki

 

[materum]

Oh, Im not concerned about the light at all. The thing is, where I live the walls are pretty thin, and I dont want all their chirping to annoy/keep awake other people in the house, especially during the night. I read somewhere that dark helps keep them quiet, which is why I was thinking about the heat pad thing: heat without the bright light, and hence more sleeping during the night (or at least I would imagine so).

 

[Sitka]

I don't think it would be a good idea, both for the ideas listed above and also because they need to be able to eat and drink at will. They won't just sleep all night if you have it dark, I don't think. If they cannot see to eat or drink they might chirp more than usual. They need to eat / drink frequently. The sound of chirping is just part of it.

 

[shelleyd2008]

If they are warm, have food and water, they shouldn't peep. If they are peeping there is something wrong with them. The light won't bother them one bit

 

[HEChicken]

I used a heating pad instead of lights and it worked out great. I kept them in a very large dog crate that was covered with a tarpaulin on all sides except the front. I put the heat pad in one back corner. If they wanted the heat, they moved to that corner. If it was too warm, they moved to the other corner which was not heated. I put the heat pad on a thermostat that allowed me to turn it down a little on warmer nights. At night time I covered the front of the dog crate with a towel to keep it dark. So, right from the beginning they learned that day time is bright and night time is dark, they had heat when they needed it and could move to a non-heated area when they didn't. I really think this set up was better than having a bright light shining on them all the time.